The present invention pertains to compost bins, and more particularly to compost bins that are economical; easily opened to facilitate access to the compost pile for maintenance and to enable the bins to be readily moved from place to place; and, easily adjustable in size and ventilation capability in order to facilitate the composting process.
For centuries gardeners have been converting organic waste into a rich soil amendment known as compost. As the organic materials decompose, they are transformed into their essential elements and serve to enrich the soils into which they are mixed.
The number of households composting today is greater than ever. Fueling the trend, is the need to reduce the amount of refuse collected into landfills and the passage by many municipalities of restrictions on their disposal. In the past, these materials have accounted for as much as 20% of the landfill contents. As a result, a large number of states and local communities are refusing to accept food, lawn and garden waste materials in landfills. The need to dispose of one""s own food and yard wastes has prompted more households to begin composting to reduce the sheer volume of waste stored on their properties, if not also to actually use the resulting compost as either soil amendments to improve the quality of the soil or as mulch.
Unfortunately, the process of converting yard wastes into compost at anything other than a very slow pace, requires a gardener""s hands-on attention. A bin of yard waste must be aerated properly, retain a certain moisture level, and may require that other types of ingredients be added to create the proper ratio of carbon to nitrogen for good decomposition. There is no better way to achieve the goal of aerating and accurately amending the composting material, than to actually turn and mix up the bin-full physically. By forking the yard waste of the bin over and mixing its contents, aeration is achieved and the mix can continue to decompose further. Without proper mixing and amending, the contents of a compost bin can become anaerobic, stop decomposing and/or begin to smell. Needless to say these are not desired results. An easily openable compost bin would facilitate access to the compost for turning and amendment.
Turning a compost pile is hard work and requires that a bin be emptied and the contents moved to a new location. Farmers and commercial compost producers turn their large quantities of materials with a front-end loader or other specialized machinery. For the backyard composter, however, turning compost is a difficult feat to achieve with the currently available semi-movable compost bins. The popular plastic types made in the shape of a cylinder, cone, column or ball, must be turned on their side and shoveled out, dumped in a new location, lifted up, or otherwise manipulated, to expose the compost. None open easily. All of these methods require a great deal of physical effort and at times, even two people. Other types of bins composed of wire mesh and the like are lighter in weight, but are difficult to release from the compressed compost material, often requiring the gardener to fork the contents out of the bin to a new location. This type of work is difficult for most people and particularly difficult for older people and those with disabilities. As a result, most people just leave their compost pile sit idle. This is called xe2x80x9ccoldxe2x80x9d composting and, though it can produce a small amount of compost in 6-12 months, the amount is generally inadequate to satisfy the amounts required for gardening. Furthermore, adding kitchen scraps is not recommended with cold composting and anaerobic decomposition may occur.
In addition to the need for an easily openable and movable compost bin to facilitate aeration and amendment of the compost, there is a need for compost bins to be adjustable in size to accommodate a volume of material optimal for composting. The size of a compost bin affects the rate at which decomposition may occur under given environmental circumstances. The volume of compost optimal for decomposition may be greater under certain temperature and moisture conditions, smaller in others, but is generally at least 27 cubic feet or more. As a result, a user must be able to easily adjust the size of a compost bin to fit his or her particular circumstances, starting with a bin capable of accommodating larger volumes of compost. Unfortunately, most commercially available compost bins accommodate only 10-18 cubic feet of compost.
Finally, many compost bins already in existence are unable to open or adjust in size easily. For these, a closure device to easily and cheaply retrofit them to enable easy opening and closure, would be of great benefit.
The need and the desire to compost are already present, what is lacking is a large composter which makes the crucial step of turning the compost substantially easier. As a result, a compost bin that adjusts in size and that can be easily opened and moved to allow access to its contents is needed.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above. Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide an easily openable and moveable compost bin to facilitate access to its contents for easier turning and that is large enough for optimal combustion. The bin is removable from the compost eliminating the need to either remove the compost from the bin or lift the bin off. Once exposed, the compost pile is readily and easily accessible to turning and amending from all sides. No heavy lifting is required in order to move, rotate or empty a compost-filled bin, making the task achievable by more people, regardless of their physical conditioning. Closure devices that allow the bin to be quickly and easily opened and closed, allow the diameter of the bin to be varied to suit the needs of the owner and to achieve an optimal size for composting. The fasteners also allow for the easy construction of a similar compost bin from hardware mesh and other mesh materials, making its construction cheap and easy so that more people can afford to compost.
Several additional objects and advantages of the present invention are to provide:
a lightweight compost bin that may be readily closed and opened, thus allowing movement of the bin from place to place and with minimal effort, as well as stored elsewhere. Moving the bin around the garden allows planting in the fertile soil where the bin used to be as well as placement where the compost will be most needed next;
a compost bin with closure devices by which the opening and closure of the bin can be achieved with minimal effort and which prompt the user to do so more frequently for turning the compost. The closure devices also provide the ability to open and close the bin while wearing gardening gloves and have no loose pieces to be lost or mislaid in the process;
a compost bin large enough to achieve an optimal volume for combustion (generally in the range of 27-64 cu. ft.) with a large circular opening for easy filling;
means by which the diameter and height of a compost bin may be adjusted to suit the special needs of the gardener; and,
closure devices that can be removably attached to either a solid plastic or wire mesh sidewall of a compost bin to allow simple construction of moveable compost bins, or to retrofit already existing compost bins to be easily opened, closed, moved and adjustable in diameter.